The High Wood

I occasionally hear people, particularly SF readers, speculating on whether the internet will ever become sentient as has been the case in several SF works. In extreme cases it has been known to take over the world.

I have tried to explain that, the way it works today, this ain’t going to happen but to little avail.

For these people, therefore, I have recorded a typical machine conversation. Only the hostnames have been changed to protect the innocent…

Fred: are you still there George?
George: yes, I’m here. how about you Fred?
Fred: yes, I’m here
<pause>
Fred: are you still there, George?
George: yes, I’m here. how about you Fred?
Fred: yes, I’m here
<pause>
Fred: I’ve got a packet here for Bruce
George: give it here. I’ll pass it on to Ralph – he can deliver it
<pause>
Fred: are you still there George?
George: yes, I’m here. how about you Fred?
Fred: yes, I’m here
<pause>
George: Bruce said his packet never arrived
Fred: I’ll ask Charlie to send it again.
George: Ralph must have dropped it
Fred: again! he’s not very reliable
George: next time I’ll give it to Charlie to deliver
<pause>
Fred: are you still there George?
George: yes, I’m here. how about you Fred?
Fred: yes, I’m here
<pause>
Fred: I’ve got a packet here for Bruce
George: give it here. I’ll pass it on to Charlie – he can deliver it
<pause>
Fred: are you still there George?
George: yes, I’m here. how about you Fred?
Fred: yes, I’m here
<etc>

Frankly, I don’t think we have much to worry about.

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